3 months more until the 2016 Hiroshima International Film Festival (HIFF)! The program is being filled one after another with films of famous directors from all over the world.

In This Corner of the World is about the ordinary life of normal people in Kure City, Hiroshima, during the Second World War. The planned exhibition is held in Kure Municipal Museum of Art this summer, and HIFF will screen this film in the Special Screenings program this fall. Sunao Katabuchi directed this animated film in his own unique way from the original manga series written and illustrated by Fumiyo Kono. HIFF will invite Sunao Katabuchi as a guest speaker for the festival and also we will have a workshop with him.

Living with My Mother, directed by Yoji Yamada, will be screened as a barrier-free film in the 2016 HIFF. To help the narration guide process to be done, we would like people with viewing and hearing disabilities to be able to enjoy movies as well. We hope HIFF becomes one of the contributors to spread barrier-free movies for all audiences in Japan.

Shunji Iwai is coming to the 2016 HIFF! Therefore, his newest film, A Bride for Rip Van Winkle, will be included in our Special Screenings! The main actress of this film is Haru Kuroki, who won the Silver Bear for best actress at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. Moreover, we are organizing a feature program of Shunji Iwai because it will be his first time in Hiroshima. For example, the feature program consists of the screening of all 12 episodes of Iwai’s TV drama series, Mysterious Transfer Student, in a scoop in one day, and his films from the past.